stay at home Mum

Mojisola

Put a SOA from both households on the Debt free boards. People will be very helpful at suggesting ways of reducing your outgoings.

maggieann2luke

Believe me I hace been on threads and pages about cutting expenditure. Neither of us are entitled to housing or council tax benefits or working tax credits via our partners. We have a car but cannot afford to run it all the time. I would need to do 2 runs to get them to work (2 adults, 3 kids plus me with a Ford Focus) then a run to pick up kids and Mum at 10miles a time. I am virtually housebound without the car but we battle to keep it on the road. We'll keep going as we are, it's what close families do, isn't it.

vassa

maggieann2luke wrote: »

Believe me I hace been on threads and pages about cutting expenditure. Neither of us are entitled to housing or council tax benefits or working tax credits via our partners. We have a car but cannot afford to run it all the time. I would need to do 2 runs to get them to work (2 adults, 3 kids plus me with a Ford Focus) then a run to pick up kids and Mum at 10miles a time. I am virtually housebound without the car but we battle to keep it on the road. We'll keep going as we are, it's what close families do, isn't it.

There are others who aren't entitled to any of that either that manage to cut their outgoings...and that's often just one person, not four adults contributing.

I don't mean to be rude, but there are definitely things you can cut down on.

Is there any way you can list your outgoings and tell us whether you smoke/spend a lot on clothes/sell car and buy cheaper one to free up cash/have any debts+how much you're paying for them etc.

StormyWeather_2

What happens when the children reach school age? Is there a school in the village?

pmlindyloo

Something seems not quite right here.

Your daughter and her partner can earn up to £35000 pa with 3 children and receive working and child tax credits.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/wtc2.pdf

dodger1

How about daughter and family move the five miles to where work and childcare is.

Dunroamin

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Something seems not quite right here.

Your daughter and her partner can earn up to £35000 pa with 3 children and receive working and child tax credits.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/wtc2.pdf

Perhaps the OP considers that £35K is a low income?:)

StormyWeather_2

maggieann2luke wrote: »

Believe me I hace been on threads and pages about cutting expenditure. Neither of us are entitled to housing or council tax benefits or working tax credits via our partners. We have a car but cannot afford to run it all the time. I would need to do 2 runs to get them to work (2 adults, 3 kids plus me with a Ford Focus) then a run to pick up kids and Mum at 10miles a time. I am virtually housebound without the car but we battle to keep it on the road. We'll keep going as we are, it's what close families do, isn't it.

Could you come up with a cheap way for your daughter to learn to drive? Could she do a few paid lessons to learn the basics then you take her out for practice.

Then they borrow your car for a few months until they can buy a run about of their own?

The problems of living rurally aren't going to disappear. It's unlikely that public transport or local facilities will improve dramatically.

They either have to solve the transport issue, find a solution within the village(cleaning holiday homes was a good suggestion) or, as dodger1 suggested, move home.

Dunroamin

maggieann2luke wrote: »

Believe me I hace been on threads and pages about cutting expenditure. Neither of us are entitled to housing or council tax benefits or working tax credits via our partners. We have a car but cannot afford to run it all the time. I would need to do 2 runs to get them to work (2 adults, 3 kids plus me with a Ford Focus) then a run to pick up kids and Mum at 10miles a time. I am virtually housebound without the car but we battle to keep it on the road. We'll keep going as we are, it's what close families do, isn't it.

If your son in law doesn't start work until 10.00, couldn't he take your daughter to work and the children to nursery before he has to leave himself? That would cut out half the journeys and you said that it was the non existence of an early morning bus that was the main problem.

princessdon

I don't think suggestions for work or cutting down was what OP wanted to hear.